The Vicksburg businessman who has claimed sole responsibility for a road-rage shooting in Madison County was sentenced Monday to 18 years in prison.

Thomas Randy Clark Jr., 34, 109 Hillside Circle, was handed the maximum on all three felony indictments he faced – 30 years for drive-by shooting and 20 each for two counts of aggravated assault – by Judge Samac Richardson, said Assistant Madison County District Attorney Scott Rogillio.

With suspensions, Clark is to serve 18 years plus five years’ probation and was ordered to pay court costs.

Clark told the judge he was driving a Jaguar with attorney and Vicksburg business owner Judith Kristie Smith, 38, 132 Pebble Beach Drive, as his passenger on May 21, 2005. He said he fired his semiautomatic Glock pistol at a Toyota Celica driven by Susan Wiltshire, 24, of Flowood, who was hit by a bullet and hospitalized.

The Toyota was in a drive-through window line at a Krystal restaurant on East County Line Road in southern Madison County when it was bumped by the Jaguar, investigators found. Words were exchanged and Clark chased the Wiltshire vehicle from the restaurant north on Old Canton Road as the shooting occurred.

Wiltshire had two passengers, but they were not reported wounded.

Clark and Smith originally faced identical indictments, but Smith’s case was taken back to a different grand jury after Clark pleaded guilty April 17 and said Smith had nothing to do with the shooting.

Smith is now charged with two counts, one each of accessory after the fact and conspiracy, Rogillio said. Though he has said he was driving at the drive-through, according to police reports, she was driving when authorities stopped the Jaguar.

&#8220He took the blame for the entire incident, including the shooting itself,” Rogillio said. &#8220But that doesn’t absolve her of what she did afterward.”

A trial date in the case against Smith has been set for Nov. 21.

Clark and Smith have been identified as partners in two Vicksburg businesses, including Manicures, Martinis and Magic, 1312 Washington St. Smith, an attorney, has a law office in Jackson.

Separate from the criminal cases, Wiltshire also has sued Clark and Smith in Madison County Circuit Court. That suit was expected to be handled after the remaining criminal charge is resolved.